Rebirth of the TelemasterA Kickstarter that uses a classic aircraftto turn young adults into entrepreneursand innovative thinker/makers

The Telemaster is a classic RC design that thousands of modelers have built and flown for generations. Anyone who learned to fly in the 1960s, ’70s, or ’80s knows that the Telemaster in its various sizes is a popular, easy-to- build, great-flying airplane. Even today, if you haven’t actually flown one, you certainly know someone who has. Originally produced by Alexander Engel ofGermany and imported to the United States by Hobby Lobby International in the late ’60s,the Telemaster spawned three versions of kits (and even ARFs): the standard 6-foot-span model, the 8-foot-span Senior Telemaster, and the 4-foot-span Junior Telemaster,making it one of the oldest, continually produced airplanedesigns available today.The Telemaster was retained when Mark Clevelandpurchased Hobby Lobby and changed its name to HobbyExpress. Recently, Mark has been working with TreelineDevelopment to expand the Telemaster heritage andintroduce it to a younger generation of makers by formingan approved STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,and Mathematics) development course. The curriculumis planned to be compatible as a stand-alone class, awork-study job, or an after-school program in whichhigh-school students will learn the basics of qualitycontrol and safety while meeting the demands of manu-facturing a full-production product. It goes withoutsaying that the program will also encourage studentengagement in ideation and entrepreneurial thinking—and RC model aviation!An excellent win-win situation, this is a great oppor-tunity to train a new generation of makers while greatlyexpanding the supply of Telemaster kits. While thestudents learn hands-on in a how-to environment,Treeline also foresees new innovations in productdevelopment in the near future, connected with inno-vative learning for the physics, electronics, and controlsystems for fixed-wing model aircraft. Competitionbetween programs will also help improve supply-chaindevelopment.

KicKoff

From May 17 to June 16, 2017, Treeline’s crowd-funding
campaign will help generate interest and funds for this
project. If you’d like to get involved, go to kickstarter.com
and search for “Telemaster.” Under this new product-development arrangement, Hobby Express will remain
the exclusive outlet for Telemaster and all new products
Treeline develops for the Telemaster brand. 

A teacher and some
students look at
dozens of parts that
go into assembling
a wing of the
Telemaster 1450.

Students check a quality-control sheet of what goes into a
Telemaster model box that’s ready for shipment.

The students learn what goes into a rigid airframe by assembling a Telemaster 1450 fuselage.